John Burke was born in Toronto where his earliest musical experiences included an intensive involvement with chant and sacred choral music. While aligned with the aspirations and ideals of twentieth-century concert music, he began to realize that for him a crucial element was lacking in the contemporary music ethos. In 1995 he embarked on a journey in search of a new vision, exploring in depth the latest research in the field of sound, music and consciousness.
This eventually led to The Labyrinth Project, an ongoing initiative that merges dedicated chamber
music with the contemplative practice of walking the labyrinth, especially the medieval design sourced from Chartres Cathedral in France. He has produced many events based on this practicum, initially in Vancouver and now in Toronto. Neither concert nor ritual in the conventional sense, the musical labyrinth includes generous expanses of dedicated ambient music (impractical to include on this site) punctuated by setpieces such as those heard here. The repertoire is devoted primarily to music that embodies the psychoacoustic cues and protocols unique to the labyrinth ethos, yet at the same time it includes works that fine their place in the concert hall.
The entire repertoire is based on a sequence of twelve harmonies that can be deployed in a shape-shifting range of idioms from the 19th to the 21st centuries, depending on the dynamic of the journey and the disposition of the participants.
John Burke's continuing engagement with the role of sound and music in the healing arts of traditional cultures has led in recent years to extended sojourns in Peru, Bali, Thailand and South Korea.